Recruits are not distributed evenly over the landscape of schools for a division. Some schools have very clear recruiting advantages and disadvantages. If you're not aware of these, you could very easily choose a school that has a large recruiting disadvantage, and then decide you hate this game because of it.

Awhile back, I ran a large analysis on the recruit distribution in relation to schools per division. I published the results here. The distribution is extremely similar from season to season and from world to world, so I strongly believe those results are still accurate. Those results are organized by which school had the most recruits closest to them. If you read the whole thread, you'll see that I later mentioned that I believe having the most recruits closest to you is not the most important factor, but that having the most recruits within your 180 and 360 mile radii is, at least at the lower divisions. At the very least, I would recommend avoiding the schools with very few recruits within their 360 mile radius.

Vision. What is it? How does it change? How can I see it?

Vision is something that (in my opinion) doesn't get explained very well to new people. A lot of people will say that vision is the number of recruits that you can "see" or the number of recruits that are willing to sign with your school. Those extra recruits may or may not be better than the recruits you can already see. Your vision goes up if you win more games and it goes down if you lose too many. This is all technically correct, but it's not a very thorough explanation of what's actually going on.

Here's what actually happens:
When WIS generates their recruit pool for a world, they use their special hidden equation per position to rate all of the recruits for that world. This is how they come up with their top 100 (or 250, or whatever it is) rankings per position. Let's say, hypothetically, that the lowest rated QB from their equation is 200 and the highest rated is 800. Remember, this is for the entire world. Now, WIS might decide that recruits get assigned to divisions like this
*These numbers are purely hypothetical*
QBs rated 200-399 : D3
QBs rated 400-599: D2
QBs rated 600-699: D1AA
QBs rated 700-800: D1A

Those would be the base division assignments, meaning every single team in those divisions can see those recruits. When you have vision, you get to actually "see" recruits that were assigned to the division above you. If you're a decent D3 team, you might get to see all QBs rated from 200-420, or if you're a very successful team, you might see all QB s rated from 200-440. Again, these numbers are purely hypothetical.It's extremely important to note right here that when you do a default recruit search (meaning you don't change the Division dropdown), those are all of the recruits that are in your vision.

But I thought you said the new recruits in my vision aren't necessarily better? They're not. The equations that WIS uses to rate recruits (and how they come up with their top 100 rankings) are pretty much bunk. They overvalue worthless attributes in each position. They're also extremely outdated. I first discovered that WIS was using these equations several years ago before JConte's major update that completely changed which attributes were important. WIS's equations didn't change at all to reflect that. However, in general, the recruits you see in your new vision will be better. The more important advantage to having high vision is that you'll see a lot less competition from SIMs. This advantage is ridiculous at the D3 and D2 levels.

So I just need to win more to get higher vision? Pretty much, yeah. We haven't yet figured out an exact equation to calculate your vision, but there's a pretty good equation (that I think is attributed to hughesjr) to estimate it.
(4*(last year's wins)+2*(two years ago's wins)+(three year's ago's wins))/7 = some number
If the result of this equation goes up after your latest season, then your vision will most likely go up. If the result goes down, then your vision will most likely go down. If you're doing a rebuild, it's usually very helpful to schedule OOC games that you know you can win so that you can get your vision up.

So how do I see what my vision is? There are a couple good methods for this. First things first, you need to know that your vision changes when the world rolls over (hint - the world rolls over when your school's win/loss record goes back to 0-0). A simple way to detect if your vision has gone up or down is to count the number of recruits you can see for a specific position before the world rolls over and then count again after the world rolls over. This method really only tells you if your vision went up or down...it doesn't really tell you how much it went up or down. I've detailed another method in this thread using an estimated version of WIS's special hidden equation. This method can give you a pretty good idea of what your vision is and how it compares to opposing coaches.

Note, that there's really not much advantage to knowing what your vision actually is. The important thing is to be aware that more wins means higher vision, and higher vision means generally better recruits and less competition.

Good potential
1. Above average potential (in the HC scouting report)
2. He's got the potential to improve his game a lot over 4 years with us. (in the AC scouting report)
3. I'm sure that your guys took some good notes about my game, and recognized that I have an amazing upside to my game. (message from recruit)
4. Upside is my middle name (message from recruit)
5. "improve a lot" (from AC scouting report)
6. "room to grow".
7. "With a little work, he could be a very good player" (from HC scouting report)
8. "Good potential for improvement" (from the HC scouting report)
9. "He's not the most gifted athlete . . . but not bad at all." (from the HC scouting report).

Average potential:
1. Looks like he has a hard time making adjustments. (from the HC scouting report)
2. He's made good strides towards reaching his potential over the past couple years. (from the HC scouting report)
3. I think his growth potential is pretty average - nothing special. (from the AC scouting report)
4. My motor never stops running (message from recruit)
5. I give 110% out there (message from recruit)
6. I'm sure that your guys took some good notes about my game, and recognized that I've worked really hard and lived up to my potential. (message from recruit) - This should actually be low potential.
7. "Some room for improvement, but not much." (from HC scouting report)
8. "Probably won't see huge improvements." (from HC scouting report)
9. "He seems slow to pick things up in practice." (from HC scouting report)

Low potential
1. "he's worked really hard in high school and has about reached his potential (from AC scouting report)
2. "tapped out" (from AC or HC scouting report, I forget which -- it's been a while since I've seen this message).

I have a spreadsheet that I will offer to anyone who wants it. I did offer to the mass of "rookies" to help them with the learning curve, but I have given it out ot many coaches now. I am working on a new version, one with greater visual aides (conditional formating) and includes the GUESS DTS rating multipliers. So those who are familiar with (and beta testing with me) the Roster Manager, the RB, DL, Backers and DBacks will include both attributes for the position...which is very helpfull if you need a FB to balance out the 6 RB's you have. I will announce the release towards the end of Stagg Season 72....March.Caesari, Samford_18, Beebster32, Starfinder77 are some of the coaches using the new version if you want to find out their opinion.
Couple weeks, as Stagg 72 is wrapping up!

Posted by ibstrummin on 2/21/2012 9:45:00 PM (view original):I have a spreadsheet that I will offer to anyone who wants it. I did offer to the mass of "rookies" to help them with the learning curve, but I have given it out ot many coaches now. I am working on a new version, one with greater visual aides (conditional formating) and includes the GUESS DTS rating multipliers. So those who are familiar with (and beta testing with me) the Roster Manager, the RB, DL, Backers and DBacks will include both attributes for the position...which is very helpfull if you need a FB to balance out the 6 RB's you have. I will announce the release towards the end of Stagg Season 72....March.Caesari, Samford_18, Beebster32, Starfinder77 are some of the coaches using the new version if you want to find out their opinion.
Couple weeks, as Stagg 72 is wrapping up!

Nice work caesari!

This spreadsheet was an amazing help. I would love to see the new one if possible, ibstrummin. The only problem with the old one was that once I found the top players at a position, I had to cross reference with the GUESS ratings to figure out RB/FB, DE/T, etc... nothing awful, but it was a bit of a hastle.

Wishbone Offense: Well, since caesari called me out, I suppose I have to at least add something to this thread.

First let me say that there are others who run the WB also at the various levels and it seems everyone has a slightly different way in which they use it.

I've been running it in Heisman D3 and D2 for 8 full seasons. When I started in Heisman I decided to give it a try because the team I took over had some good RBs, a solid OL, and not much in the WR department.....so the experiment began and here are my thoughts.

1. You can win a lot of games using the WB exclusively. I've seen some guys who use it part time, but I believe its true value is in using it exclusively.
2. My philosophy is run, run, run and when that doesn't work, run some more. :) I've been in many games where in 1H the WB was simply shut down by SIMs and/or human coaches. Don't give up your gameplan. The 2H can completely turn around and if/when the WB comes alive, it rocks!! I've also lost a few games because the 'bone just never did come alive.
3. I've had some success throwing from the WB, but it has not been consistent enough for me. In this game, as in real life, the 'bone will get you 2, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3, 2 and then a 55 yarder. So, the more you run, the more opportunities you have for the 55 yarder to pop up. (At least thats the way I look at it).
4. What do you need? Much like any successful offense, you first need an outstanding OL. Without that, you are not going to get much with any offense. Beyond that, you need at least 6 very good RBs (I typically have 4 RBs and 2 FBs). I also keep at least 2 WRs who are deep threats, just so I have that weapon, if I ever get really behind and HAVE to toss the pigskin.
5. Skills: Blocking, blocking and more blocking. Somewhere recently, Norbert posted the "anatomy of a running play", which describes how a running play unfolds. To me, blocking from the entire team is crucial. So I recruit and develop all players (except for QB which has no effect) for their blocking abilities as a key attribute. This goes for WRs and TEs. I have also converted a TE to WR a few times so I could increase the blocking ability of my WR corps. No data, but it seemed to help.
6. QB: nothing real special here unless you want the guy to run. Otherwise, its the same attributes that others think are key (GI, Tech, Str) I personally value GI more than anything (whether its a WB or more conventional offense). If you want the guy to run, put value on the RB attributes. You can find some pretty good running QBs out there.
7. FB: I've had success running the FB (in both the WB and my conventional I-Form and Pro Set offenses). I've just about abandoned it though due to what I view as inconsistent results. I've had some really, really good FBs who could run and put up solid numbers. With similar players I've also had poor results. I have not figured out why.
8. DEFENSE: I would only count on putting up 15-20 points (max) a game against good teams. One of the advantages of using a running WB full time is that you usually get a huge Time of Possession advantage. This means that when you are playing a team with a high octane passing game....they are simply not going to get enough plays. But even with this TOP advantage, you need to have a very solid defense. I'll let others talk about defense, but i will say that this truly is a TEAM sport and you need to have a defense that compliments your offense.....an overall TEAM philosophy that you decide on, recruit for, and then utilize in your game play.

Posted by ibstrummin on 2/21/2012 9:45:00 PM (view original):I have a spreadsheet that I will offer to anyone who wants it. I did offer to the mass of "rookies" to help them with the learning curve, but I have given it out ot many coaches now. I am working on a new version, one with greater visual aides (conditional formating) and includes the GUESS DTS rating multipliers. So those who are familiar with (and beta testing with me) the Roster Manager, the RB, DL, Backers and DBacks will include both attributes for the position...which is very helpfull if you need a FB to balance out the 6 RB's you have. I will announce the release towards the end of Stagg Season 72....March.Caesari, Samford_18, Beebster32, Starfinder77 are some of the coaches using the new version if you want to find out their opinion.
Couple weeks, as Stagg 72 is wrapping up!

Nice work caesari!

This spreadsheet was an amazing help. I would love to see the new one if possible, ibstrummin. The only problem with the old one was that once I found the top players at a position, I had to cross reference with the GUESS ratings to figure out RB/FB, DE/T, etc... nothing awful, but it was a bit of a hastle.

The new version will be hosted on the GD Reports Tools section...and will eliminate the need to cross refrence. If you liked the first "Roster Manager", this one is a major improvement. The conditional formating will be set for a DIII, DII and a 1AA-1A version.

Once playoffs/bowls start in STAGG, I will release for any and all who want it...watch for the posting!

I used his spreadsheet (the new one) and it rocks. I did however add a tab to it for returners. Using this spreadsheet was the first time that I was able to come up with the same ratings for the class as the GD reports. Hats off to ibstrummin for this.

best thing I've found is to zero in on the best coaches. click on the coaching resumes and isolate the the 3-5 best at any given level and study the hell out of their gameplans and the type of players they recruit -- and if you're brave enough, send them a site mail and pick their brains if they will let you.

I've done allright with this (still no NC), but it's made the game much more enjoyable to take some time to pay some attention to what other are doing and have done.

I still have that manifesto hard copied with notes on it, have some advice from nelsonba25 and gt_deuce (also hard copied -- yes, I kill me some trees), and I have the best coaches at a given level in my sights

Great potential1. Sky's the limit (in the AC scouting rreport)2. Incredible upside potential (in the AC scouting rreport)3. A truly gifted athlete (in the HC scouting report)4. Tremendous Potential - He could be a star!
5. World of Potential - Huge upside!
6. a very special player

Good potential1. Above average potential (in the HC scouting report)2. He's got the potential to improve his game a lot over 4 years with us. (in the AC scouting report)3. I'm sure that your guys took some good notes about my game, and recognized that I have an amazing upside to my game. (message from recruit)4. Upside is my middle name (message from recruit) 5. "improve a lot" (from AC scouting report)6. "room to grow".7. "With a little work, he could be a very good player" (from HC scouting report) 8. "Good potential for improvement" (from the HC scouting report)9. "He's not the most gifted athlete . . . but not bad at all." (from the HC scouting report).

Average potential:1. Looks like he has a hard time making adjustments. (from the HC scouting report)2. He's made good strides towards reaching his potential over the past couple years. (from the HC scouting report)3. I think his growth potential is pretty average - nothing special. (from the AC scouting report)4. My motor never stops running (message from recruit)5. I give 110% out there (message from recruit)6. I'm sure that your guys took some good notes about my game, and recognized that I've worked really hard and lived up to my potential. (message from recruit) - This should actually be low potential.7. "Some room for improvement, but not much." (from HC scouting report)8. "Probably won't see huge improvements." (from HC scouting report)9. "He seems slow to pick things up in practice." (from HC scouting report)

Low potential1. "he's worked really hard in high school and has about reached his potential (from AC scouting report)2. "tapped out" (from AC or HC scouting report, I forget which -- it's been a while since I've seen this message).3. Not sure he has the ability to get much better...